Afghan official: Woman, 22, stoned to death after being accused of adultery

Afghan young ladies walk past, an unfinished monument dedicated to Farkhunda who was beaten to death by a mob in March 2015 after being falsely accused of burning a Quran, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015. A 22-year-old Afghan woman was thrown in a hole in the ground and stoned to death by a group of men identified as Taliban insurgents after she was accused of adultery, an Afghan official said on Wednesday. (AP Photos/Rahmat Gul) (The Associated Press)

Afghan young ladies walk past an unfinished monument dedicated to Farkhunda who was beaten to death by a mob in March 2015 after being falsely accused of burning a Quran, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015. A 22-year-old Afghan woman was thrown in a hole in the ground and stoned to death by a group of men identified as Taliban insurgents after she was accused of adultery, an Afghan official said on Wednesday. (AP Photos/Rahmat Gul) (The Associated Press)

An Afghan official says a 22-year-old woman has been stoned to death by a group of men identified as Taliban insurgents after she was accused of adultery.

Abdul Hai Khateby, spokesman for the governor of central Ghor province, said Wednesday the woman, identified only as Rokhshana, was thrown into a hole in the ground and stoned to death. Khateby said Rokhshana had been accused of running away from home and adultery.

The killing happened on Oct. 24 in a village about 45 kilometers (28 miles) north of Firozkoh, capital of Ghor. The area is controlled by Taliban insurgents "who implement their own barbaric laws," he says.

Stoning is illegal under the Afghan constitution. Incidents of stoning are unusual but not unheard of in Afghanistan, where women are the main victims.